The former administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Anne Alonzo, will become the chief executive of the American Egg Board, reports Agri-Pulse, pointing to clues in a trade publication. The egg board, funded by a check-off program on producers, said it would have a formal announcement in March after a board meeting. Alonzo became AMS chief in May 2013 and recently left the agency. She was vice president of global public policy at Kraft Foods for six years before working at USDA.
The egg board was criticized last fall for allegedly trying to engineer a behind-the-scenes campaign against “Just Mayo,” a mayonnaise-like spread that contains no eggs. The egg board president, now retired, said in an email that the non-egg product was a major threat to the egg business, NPR reported.